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Diaries of a Lodge Owner
In 2009, sheet metal mechanic, Steve Niedzwiecki, turned his passions into reality using steadfast belief in himself and his vision by investing everything in a once-obscure run-down Canadian fishing lodge.
After ten years, the now-former lodge owner and co-host of The Fish'n Canada Show is here to share stories of inspiration, relationships and the many struggles that turned his monumental gamble into one of the most legendary lodges in the country.
From anglers to entrepreneurs, athletes to conservationists; you never know who is going to stop by the lodge.
Diaries of a Lodge Owner
Episode 106: Lessons From a Lifetime Guide
Spend an hour with JP Bushey, and you'll quickly understand why his reputation as one of eastern Georgian Bay's premier fishing guides has spread far beyond Ontario's shores. Unlike those who picked up a rod five years ago after watching a YouTube sensation, JP's connection to these waters spans four generations – fishing isn't just what he does, it's literally in his blood.
When JP made the leap from corporate life to full-time guiding a decade ago, even he was surprised by how quickly his business flourished. The secret? A rare combination of exceptional fishing knowledge and genuine passion for creating memorable experiences. "You're with these people for eight-plus hours straight," JP explains. "The fishing's a big part of it, but you've got to keep the wheels on the bus turning." This philosophy has earned him a loyal clientele who return year after year.
What sets Georgian Bay apart, according to JP, is the remarkable variety accessible within minutes rather than hours. Lake trout, smallmouth bass, walleye, pike, and trophy muskies all thrive within what he describes as "a 1.5 kilometer circle" around his dock. This proximity not only maximizes fishing time but creates opportunities for anglers to experience multiple species in a single outing – a rarity in many destinations.
Throughout the conversation, JP shares priceless insights about seasonal patterns, particularly his love for topwater fishing when water temperatures consistently reach the 70s and cabbage patches begin showing "pokers" breaking the surface. For younger anglers especially, the visual excitement of surface strikes creates instant connection and confidence. "That's a powerful thing for a young mind – it's a confidence thing. I can do it. He showed me how to do it. He told me this was going to happen and I made it happen."
Perhaps most moving is JP's passionate plea for conservation alongside enjoyment. "Put as much time, care and passion into handling them nice as you did into driving up there and catching one," he advises, noting that every angler becomes personally responsible for the resource the moment a fish enters their net. It's this balance of excitement and stewardship that defines truly great guides – something JP Bushey has clearly mastered.
Ready to experience Georgian Bay's legendary fishing? Search for Bushey Angle Guided Fishing and prepare for an adventure that might just change how you see the sport forever.
yeah, there's going to be a real reversal coming up here very, very soon where people have said you know what, I've had enough of this, uh, instagram and my kids being glued to their phone and headphones and all this other nonsense, and it seems to be a shift is happening right now where, um, the value and the lessons and the entertainment in what we do fishing-wise is going to really spring up and people are seeing the value of it for their kids.
Speaker 2:This week on the Outdoor Journal, radio Podcast Networks, diaries of a Lodge Owner, stories of the North Folks. We're dropping the anchor and reeling in stories from one of the sharpest anglers to ever guide the waters of South Central Ontario. And he's no stranger to early mornings, long casts and the kind of fish tales that can only come from a life spent on the water and sometimes in the middle of it.
Speaker 3:It is now my pleasure to introduce to all of you the man behind Bushy Angled Guided Fishing JP. Bushy. On this show, jp and I tell stories of our season together at the lodge and how, over the years, he's carved out his reputation through hard work, grit and a deep understanding of the lakes, the fish and the clients who chase them, and maybe begin to understand what makes this career more than just a job but a calling.
Speaker 2:So if you want to hear what it takes to turn fishing into a lifestyle, or you're just here for the laughs, mishaps and the ones that got away, this episode is right in your strike zone. Here's my conversation with JP Bushy.
Speaker 3:Welcome folks to another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner Stories of the North. And I am again. I'm always excited to talk to guests, but this guest is someone who has a special place in my heart. He bailed me out for a year back in the old lodge days at Chaudière when my guiding part of the business was starting to take off and I was always short guides. And JP Bushy come into my life and was a godsend, because this man I didn't know about his guiding abilities at the time, but the first thing that I quickly realized about JP was he was one hell of an angler. Now, being a hell of an angler doesn't always equal a great guide, but this guy has it all. And JP, thank you for that and welcome to the show.
Speaker 1:Buddy, it's my pleasure, it's my pleasure, and in many ways, that opportunity and welcome to the show, buddy, it's my pleasure, it's my pleasure, and in many ways that opportunity bailed me out too. I was new in the guiding business and to this day, as a matter of fact, coming up this coming week for three days, I still have many, many folks that Chaudier introduced me to back then that still fish with me regularly to this day. So it was, it was a godsend for both of us.
Speaker 1:Buddy, absolutely no doubt and that that fishery obviously, uh, we both know was, uh, that'll make any, that'll make any fishermen look good up there and uh, it was just as big of a thrill and an opportunity for me too well, thank you.
Speaker 3:yeah, some of those people that, uh, that you. There's a couple in particular near and dear to my heart, uh, jordan and uh, uh, my, uh, my wife's cousin. I guess I guess they're cousins, um, but Jordan and Jacqueline, yeah, I was just, I was just at their wedding. They just got married, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 1:The only excuse for not booking is a wedding. So I'll, I'll. I'm willing to accept that.
Speaker 3:Well, there you go. I guess that one works, but uh, every time they went out with you, they always texted me pictures and everything else and had an absolutely awesome time. They just, they just love you, and that's a testament all on its own. So, yeah, Well, listen, JP, why don't we get into your brain and figure out what may? Where did the passion to guide come?
Speaker 1:from. Quite literally, it was born into me. I've got two sons that are 11 and 13 years old, and they're four generations, uh, of bushies to fish here on eastern georgian bay, um, where I, where I run my business. And, uh, although I didn't descend from a guide per se, um, I wasn't one of these guys who decided they liked fishing five years ago because of a youtuber that they watched or a magazine that they picked up. It was quite literally born into my blood. I was born on the bay and, um, like you talked about earlier, there's, there's two halves to it. Right, it's, it's, it's. You've got to know where the fish are and you got to enjoy seeing it all every day for the first time through somebody else's eyes. And I was out this morning with a group lake trout fishing, and when that fish is chasing up on the graph and the rod dumps over the side of the boat, I don't care if it's the 9000th lake trout I've seen do that like today, or it's my first every time. Trout I've seen do that like today, or it's my first every time, and I think that.
Speaker 1:I think that I got a chance to dive into this thing head first about 10 years ago and for me it wasn't really a choice. It wasn't really a choice. I had an opportunity with the employer that I was working with at the time in the real job world to take the plunge. I had massive, massive support from my entire family and they all kind of said you know what do you want to do? And I said you know what I want to do. And they said, can you do it? And I said, give me a year, let me, let me take a shot. And I know I can do it. And, uh, the first year kind of surprised everyone, not not, not the least of which surprised me. And it's grown every year since.
Speaker 1:And um, I get, I get a lot of questions and a lot of uh people reaching out to me over the years, especially since COVID, when a lot of people are rethinking their nine to five lives and all this kind of stuff. And and I give, I give everybody the same answer is you better, love it? Cause it's not, it's not, it's, and nobody knows this better than you. It's not like you decide to roll out of bed at 7am and go float around in a boat and cast all day. This is not a nine to five gig, it's a lifestyle. I am the sales and marketing department, I'm the booking agent, I'm the outboard repairman, I am the uh, uh, you know the scheduler, I'm the accountant.
Speaker 1:And it goes far deeper than just, uh, dragging people around in the boat from seven to three every day, or whatever hours they want to fish. It's very much an immersive, um, taxing, uh way to make a living, and the advantage that I have is I was put on this earth to do it. It's what I'm supposed to do. You said that to me one time, you, you. You said there's fishermen and JP, you are a guide. And I kind of think, I kind of. That always resonated with me. Steve, I think I am, I think that's what I was born to do. I've done the shirt and tie thing, I've done the downtown Toronto thing, I've done the commuting thing. I've slugged it out with a sledgehammer, I've slugged it out in stamping plants, and this is it's not work. It's work, but it's not work.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yes. And and the other key thing for people to understand is it's not fishing either. You know it's far from fishing. I've been thinking about dipping my toes in those waters. Up here on the French, I've got this beautiful island and cottages and, well, cottage and bunkies and I've been thinking about renting my place out here to groups and then guiding them as well, because it's an awesome place to share the experiences you can see here, just like on G-Bay. They're amazing experiences.
Speaker 3:But you know, I go in the boat and I remember what it was like to be thrown in to guide, because I did guide. That's. The only time I really got on the water was when I and folks, you all, you've heard me say it lots of times I got to go on the water when one of my guides didn't show up or I overbooked and I was thrown into it and I would always go out with the preface that hey, listen, I'm not a guide, because it come with a little bit extra pressure. Because as soon as they heard that they were going out with the owner, all of a sudden it was like, oh my God that they were going out with the owner all of a sudden it was like oh my God, we're going out with the owner and he must be the best, when I wasn't like I mean.
Speaker 1:I wasn't on the water every day. There was a couple of times you were. I remember very distinctly Matt and I talk about it to this day Matt O'Brien and I talk about his day the old september hole, and we all came in. We all came in and, uh, we had our scribs and scraps but you spanked them on more than one occasion. I do recall that very matt and I still talk about that that was a.
Speaker 3:That was. That was my crowning moment. That was. I don't know if I've ever told that story on diary. That's a good story and billy was mad. I know it was mad. I, I know.
Speaker 1:Billy was mad. I know you turned the lights out. You cleaned all of us up that day. I remember that very well.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, it happened. We were with the. Oh, I was with.
Speaker 1:Big group.
Speaker 3:Yeah, teddy and Frank, and they were from the Tribute Homes group, right, they come up year after year and we all took off from the dock and I always had Frank McPhee God rest his soul. Remember Big Frank Yep, he loved to party Yep. And Teddy and a couple of other guys they always come with me Didn't really care too much about the fishing but they insisted that they wanted to spend some time with me. So I was always cool with it, cause I loved those guys and I watched all you guys head out and uh, we went out, uh, and I would always just take them out to the uh Comfort Island Shoal. Um, it was always good, it was easy, easy for me, they were familiar with it. So we went out to the comfort island shoal and there was nothing going on, like nothing. And uh, we're kind of watching the other boats you and, and billy and and matt and and I think marcel was there too and uh, you guys were all heading towards the lake and it was kind of rough. So I said to Frank and Teddy, I said you know they're all going that way.
Speaker 3:I know a spot that I heard about, actually through Billy, one of the guys, johnny Doe Keese over at the reserve, had told Billy about this spot a few years earlier at least, I think, and I overheard about this. Well, billy actually told me about it then and I said you know, the spot's called September Hole and this was like the 10th of September, yeah. And I said I kind of know where it is. I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I know where it is. Do you guys want to go out where they're going, or do you want to go back to September hole? I know it's nice and sheltered It'll be, it'll be, it won't be rough at all. And they said, oh fuck, yeah, let's go to September hole. I'm like okay, so off, we go to September Hole. And we got in there and they were just there Like, oh yeah, big ones, yeah, that was back when it was 18. Was it you could keep two over 18 inches?
Speaker 1:That's what you're looking for. Were two overs yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we come back, and we had a limit of of big wall, big walleye, and we were like, I mean, we had them, I don't know, in the first hour or so we, we kept on throwing big fish back, like it was. It was one of those days, uh, nevermind, as a guide, as an angler you dream about, and I'm sitting there in the boat with these guys and and uh, and they are having a wow, we were all having a ball. It was the best. But for me I'm like, well, guys, if and they're like oh, like I mean there's no way they're doing this good. And I said, no, I know, but I didn't think that like I thought, well, if we're doing this good, they gotta be doing really good. Well, I think we were one of the last boats to come in.
Speaker 3:That was the old uh, that was the old um tournament uh trick, where you know you got a big bag and you kind of hold back until everybody's, everybody shore. So we come in and Teddy went down. He says let me carry them up. I want to carry them up. So I said, yeah, no problem. So we put them all in the net and the fucking net was like bulging and Teddy carried them up and I'll never forget. You guys started making a big deal out of it Like, oh my God, look at this. And Billy looked up and he said Stevie, where'd you get those? I'm like September Hall, september Hall, where do you go to September Hall? I told you about September Hall. I said I know you told me about September Hall. Well, why did you go there? I said because I don't know. And he got mad.
Speaker 1:That's a very good Billy Commanda. Billy's turned into one of my good friends. I absolutely love the guy. Billy's the best. That's a very good Billy Commanda impersonation. I've got a decent one too, and I'll never forget the very first time you sent me out it was with a big group and it was with Billy, and I was all fired up and jacked up. I'd heard about the legend and couldn't believe I was going to get to spend the day in his area and doing lunch with him, and I'll never, I'll never, I'll never forget this. I tell this story to people all the time. I walked straight up to him before we we blasted off in the morning and said Billy, we're going to do shore lunch together. Where do you want to have shore lunch today, billy? He looks me dead in the face and goes I don't know somewhere on the fucking shore. I guess that's what he said. Oh no, what a beauty, what a beauty.
Speaker 3:Oh, he's a beauty, another great. And Billy, I was actually just I'm up here at the cottage on the French right now and we had our annual Ned Zwicky Baird week with our friends Dean and Sam Baird. They've got kids that are the same age as my kids Very nice, and we always take Billy out. So we had Billy out two or three days ago and just spanked him again.
Speaker 3:But, um, you know, billy is, um, billy has got a very dry sense of humor and um, uh, you really need to get to know him for him to open up to you. And um, I and, and I remember doing those shore lunches with bigger groups and we would always get together and do the shore lunch together. Well, we were out there with this one group and everybody is really excited for the shore lunch and inevitably they want to help. But when you don't know how to do it, get out of the way, yeah, yeah. So I remember there was this one one fellow who was overenthusiastic and he he's right up in Billy's grill and he's like Billy, what can I, what can I do to help you, man? What can I do to help you? And, and without skipping a beat, billy looks up, looks at him and says stay out of my fucking kitchen at him and says stay out of my fucking kitchen.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, what I? I? I got the spatula across the knuckles one time, one of the first times, because I put a couple of pieces of walleye in the pan skin side up and not down, so they'd curl. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and I was. I was reaching back into the bag to snip out a few more and I got the spatula across the knuckles.
Speaker 5:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:What a beauty.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, he is the best, though, Like I mean, once you get to know Billy, he's phenomenal, and I got to say for a thousand percent on Nipissing and the upper French river, there is nobody that knows walleye better than Billy Comanda.
Speaker 1:Yeah, about three years ago I brought my two sons up and we we had to have a day with Billy for sure. And the kids still talk about it, not, not, not. Not only the number of of walleyes that they caught, but the fact that Billy, unlike lots of us, he's running a little 2D Humminbird 7-inch sonar and Billy puts it on the dead pine tree in the big white rock and if you can see around that point you're out too far and it's a chain and anchor. And my kids part of the reason why I wanted to do that is is I I wanted them to see I'm not a real tech guy myself and that's a whole other podcast but um, they were, they.
Speaker 1:It was not lost on them at you know, nine and 11 years old, or however they were a couple of years ago. It was not lost on them that this guy had every fish in that lake and river system by name on a string and if we weren't catching them he would change corners with the anchor and we drift out into 32 instead of 28. And bang, bang. My kids still talk about. I tell people that story all the time. Oh, yeah.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, you want to talk about a guy who knows the lay of the land. Guy was guiding when he was like 14.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, and he's over 60 now. Yeah, and a master at the anchor. But, believe it or not, after all of those years we went out with Billy last, like three days ago or four days ago he never dropped the anchor once, never. Once he's changed his ways.
Speaker 3:He drops the marker buoy still uses the same sonar drops the marker buoy, but he's on the engine back trolling by and this and that I said holy shit, billy, what's going on? He said. I said, when did you start this, this, when did you start not throwing the anchor? He said, oh, last season. Uh, you catch more, catch more doing it with this way. Uh, you can stay on the fish and take that to the bank yeah, oh, for sure, for sure.
Speaker 3:It's what I used to do before I had this rolling motor. You know what I mean. But, um mean, but for Billy to do that after so many years, it was very, very surprising to me that he did that. And then when he said you catch more fish that way, I leaned over and I said I know, billy, and you want to know the best part, you don't have to pull that 30 pound anchor up 20 times in a day you know, I remember that too.
Speaker 3:I remember that too oh yeah, so Billy's starting to, he's, he's, uh, he's uh, growing as an angler, even at at 60 years old now, like I, like, I mean you catch more, but it's not quite as easy as the angler to just drop your line straight down, because now you're playing with the movement of the boat and you still have to get that jig down to the bottom and keep it there and keep it there, and that's a trick.
Speaker 3:But you know what? That's something that that people learn fairly quickly. And and that's where those three eighths ounce jig heads come in handy. Right, you get that little bit heavier jig head. I went with quarters right, because usually I thought, billy, we would be anchored and and, uh, I I'd be good with quarter-ounce jig heads, but they weren't quite enough. So Billy set me up with the old classic 3-8s, like, I mean, we used 3-8s for years.
Speaker 1:Yep, that's all I used up there. On a windy day you might bump it up to a half, but never lighter, and it was all about remaining vertical and keeping the guests. I fished a lot of drop shots up there too. Same concept make sure they're straight up and down. And there's places out there, especially in the lake, where that bottom's real bitey and snaggy. And as soon as you open that line angle up beyond about 90, you're looking for trouble. And yeah, I know that there's a good lesson in that man. If a guy like billy command has changed in his game and staying, staying up to speed, that's a pretty good uh, pretty good indicator. That uh, um, you never know it all, do you?
Speaker 3:no, hell, no, not at all uh like. I mean. I I look forward to learning every day. I uh, I've uh being uh with the uh fish in Canada crew for for quite a few years. I finally broke down You're not a much of a uh, you said you're not much of a uh technology guy, but I just put live scope on my boat and uh, uh. You know I'm struggling a little bit with it, just in the sense that um, uh, the orientation of the transducers is giving me a little bit of trouble, but I'm slowly figuring it out and once I get it all figured out we'll do a show on it and it has its place.
Speaker 3:But there are moral kind of issues within certain communities, like the muskie community and everything else. But as far as I'm concerned, I love the technology. I really do. It gives so much to talk about.
Speaker 3:You're almost like a fish biologist when you're out there, because now you're not like the difference between traditional sonar and LiveScope or forward-facing sonar, live scope, or forward facing sonar the traditional. You saw the fish, the live scope. You see the fish and you see how they react to your baits and how they move and everything else. And some people will find bigger fish like muskies, will find bigger fish like muskies and they just stay on them and pound them to the point where the muskie will bite because it's being pestered, to the point where it's just pissed off or it gets irritated, or they know where the fish is and when you throw 150 casts at that fish, sometimes they get snagged, which is totally illegal.
Speaker 3:But the way that I look at it, it's like a gun, right. You can use that gun when you have a gun for terrible, terrible shit. Or you can choose to use that technology for wonderful stuff like hunting, which is our heritage. You know what I mean. So I love the technology, but I'm not going to be, like old O'Brien says, a laser and sniper, right. So it's one of those things where you just have to do use it the way that it should be used and go from there. But that again, that's a topic for another day. I don't know. I do know a little bit about, uh, a little bit about the technology, but um, peter's always the one that, um, that's, that's running it and it's dialed when I'm using it. Now I'm the dialer and I'm starting to learn. Uh, I'm starting to learn that it's not. You know you do need to know a little bit about it to to get it set up properly.
Speaker 1:But you know you do need to know a little bit about it to get it set up properly. Most definitely, most definitely. You know, 12 years ago, when we all got on to side imaging, it was the same type of thing. You pull that transducer out of pitch two degrees and instead of being able to look out 110 feet, you're looking out 40 feet. 110 feet, you're looking out 40 feet. So there's there's absolutely a tuning process and a uh familiarity process to any any of that technology. There's no, there's no sonar anywhere in the world where you're going to walk into xyz store, hook it to the battery and it's going to run perfectly. There's a lot of tuning and and uh manipulation that you got to go through to get it dialed in, not only uh for the depth of water and what you're doing, but for your, for your haul too.
Speaker 2:Sure.
Speaker 1:The difference in performance. I'm in a ranger boat a new ranger boat this last season and the difference in performance even in a smooth glass haul versus a riveted or welded haul. The bubble trails. The disturbance that creates is there's a lot to it. There's a lot to it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and nevermind the water quality and clarity and density.
Speaker 1:We're just coming off the classic yellow snot pine tree pollen around here and it's unbelievable how what happens with that pollen is it slicks up on the surface for seven or ten days and then it begins to sink. Yeah, and side imaging I, I I've been running it for all my casters at 60 feet because you can't see much further beyond that anyways. Yeah, it just settles down into the column and it's like trying. It's like trying to shine a flashlight through a chain link fence versus a sleeping bag.
Speaker 3:Yeah, 100%. Just imagine taking a flashlight in the dark and then you're shining it through the air, that's nice and clear. And then take a bag full of flour or talcum powder and blast it with an air compressor through the air like it's like fog. Pat and I uh run into that. Um last week, beginning of last week, when I first uh, I just had put it on my boat and we were up, uh, for musky opener here and um, the side the side imaging was awful and and I was like oh my god, this garmin side imaging. And pat said and and I was like oh my God, this Garmin side imaging. And Pat said no, no, no, he had already been up a couple of days. He said it's not that it's the water, it's because I've been in some, some bays where it's clear and that's the pollen.
Speaker 1:And um, and you guys are absolutely right Um, so that was one of the things we've learned over the last couple years is that this the pine tree pollen usually coincides right dead nuts with musky opener. Yeah, it's when those trees let it all go and uh, um, uh, we we do a lot of big pike fishing as well, uh, late in june, and and one of the things we've kind of keyed in on the last couple of years is getting into I don't know that the fish like it. I honestly don't. Just as a fisherman would seek out current or bait fish or X, y Z, we've been seeking out areas where we're finding that cleaner water, where that pollen is not up and pushed through and I think the fish prefer it. To be quite honest, I wouldn't want to be a fish that sucks water through my gills and be sucking all that crap through my gills. I don't know that they love it.
Speaker 3:It does break the light intensity because it does help the ambush game, I'm sure, but I'm not sure that fish like it yeah, I would tend to agree with that um, because there's a lot of it like I mean, some years shit it gets blowing over here.
Speaker 1:You can't see across the bay, you know yeah, it looks like smoke coming out of the trees.
Speaker 3:Yeah yeah, yeah, for sure. You want to keep your windows closed, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:But oh, yeah, yeah. So for a guy like, for a guy like go ahead, go ahead. No, I I go ahead. Finish your thought and then and then we'll move on.
Speaker 3:For a guy like me that, for a guy like me that details ahead no, I, I go ahead, finish your thought and then, and then we'll move on for a guy like me.
Speaker 1:That for a guy like me that details the inside of his truck once every seven years. Yeah, you want to keep the windows closed because the inside layers from black to yeah, looking like it was covered in margarine there the other day when I ha, that's hilarious.
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Speaker 3:So you're over on Georgian Bay. Yep, talk a little bit about that fishery.
Speaker 1:Well, like any guide you ask is going to tell you all, mine's the best, it's world class, it's top shelf, it's olympic level, it's gold medal, this is whatever. But um, the the big, the big thing that I'll say about here is um, massive variety. Um, routinely, the guests are baffled by the fact that if somebody stole, if my outboard broke down and I had nothing but my trolling motor and kicker to fish with, if you drew a 1.5 kilometer circle around my dock and took away my boat keys, I could easily run a guide trip and you could catch five to seven species of fish. That's awesome. Like the guys I had out this morning, um, I made a comment to them that they had never caught a lake trout, they'd never fished for them. I said it's gonna take me longer to drive to this spot, jump on the front deck and drop the trolling motor than it is for you to catch your first one. And, lo and behold, that's exactly what happened. And you know, uh, two bomb cast. Distance from where we're jigging lake trout and 65 feet of water, there's a small mouth hump and where that small mouth hump dumps off, to the west of that, there's lots and lots of walleye at times and we've got 50 inch muskies in this island complex over the years and it's just like there really, really something to be said for um having not not only options, but they're all close by.
Speaker 1:And the, the, I, I, I, like you said, off the top, the French river and Nipissing 100%, owns a piece of my heart. It is a special place, it is a sacred place. Um, my, my, my, main squeeze forever. And the, the girl that I'm going to take to the dance every saturday night's georgian bay. It's what I was, it's what I grew up fishing and yeah, and I think that that's, that's. That's one of the things that has always stuck with me and it certainly resonates with the guests is whatever you want to target, um, I can have you on it real fast, and as soon as you want to switch gears, I'm going to have you on plan B just as fast. Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:It's a big. It's a big imposing body of water and uh things like wind giveth and taketh away and there's, unlike places like I do.
Speaker 1:I do a lot of winter guiding on Lake Simcoe for lake trout and whitefish and, unlike Simcoe, a lot of times there ain't nowhere to hide. Yeah, and around around here, and it's very similar on the French, like the September hole. Yeah, I can always. I can always tuck you away. I've always got a plan B, I've always got a plan C and um, uh, uh, barring things like lightning, I'm going to be able to get you on fish every day and more than likely three to five different species in a very, very short amount of time I love that, that short amount of time, because even here on the french, like I mean um, like if you want largemouth bass, you got to drive a bit to get good largemouth bass fishing.
Speaker 3:Like you got to run 25 minutes from from where I'm at, which doesn't seem like a whole lot, but when you're driving that's an hour an hour there's an hour, right, yeah, and let's, let's.
Speaker 1:let's also call a spade a spade steve, and last time I checked, marine grade fuel for our outboards doesn't grow on trees either. It's not like buying a bottle of water, it's expensive.
Speaker 3:Oh, for sure, For sure.
Speaker 1:So I appreciate that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, that's really cool and you know I would love to have that here. It's massive water here and there's lots of variety, but you know you got to kind of travel between spot to spot to spot and that is a cost, right, but it is what it is right. The experience you get in between here is beautiful landscape and history and that's where being a good guide comes in and telling stories and stuff. And speaking of telling stories, what was one of your more memorable guide stories or things that had happened to you and that could be something that happened to the guests, something happened to you fishing related, not just something they're all quite memorable.
Speaker 1:Um, two to two. I got two, two, two two days ago. Um, I had a, a, a, two, two fellows out and they, they were the same. The lake trout fishing here is pretty hot and it's a good time here to do it, and that's what they were here to do. And uh, like we talked about off the top that, that excitement never goes away. Yeah, every, every, every, every chase bite or every top water slurp. That's the first one I've ever seen. I, I, I can't help it right, and while living.
Speaker 3:We're out there. You said living, that experience through the guest is key and that resonated with me thinking about being a guide. Right, and that is an important piece of information, but, sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 1:We were. It was, you know, 7 am and we're fishing in front of a large actually it's not a large island, it's a very tiny. It's a tiny island with a large cottage on it, and I didn't know, I didn't know that these folks were sitting up on their patio and the pine trees, 400 yards from us, having their coffee at 7 am. I didn't see them or hear them. And the first drop of the morning I'm in the back of the boat with this fella and the lures going down on the screen and here comes a big orange streak just shooting off the bottom and I, you know, I tell him to quickly close the close, the bail down and start reeling, take it away from him. And it's his first time and and I'm just out of the corner of my eye I just watched the rod tip just fold underneath the boat and you know, he got him, got him like and and I can hear these people like I scared the living hell out of the guy holding the rod. He thought it was hilarious because I got so excited for him and I'm sure these people on the patio, 400 yards away on this island, were like what is going on? It sounds like a domestic dispute. You know what I mean, and and and, uh, um, that was funny because they were.
Speaker 1:I'm a pretty laid back guy, I'm pretty chill and I'm a confident fisherman too. I know what's going to happen. It's just I don't need to get all hyped up and excited. And they really found it interesting that that first fish, that bit I was so excited and sent the shockwave out over the water big time. And there was another time. I've done a couple of podcasts, never with a host as good looking as Steve Niswicki.
Speaker 1:I want to throw that in there, thank you, I've done a couple of them and I tell this story. I don't care if people have heard this before. It's such a good story Talking about guests and relationships that I built through your business, through Chaudière Lodge, the old Shub group. The half of them were from Toronto and half were the brother-in-laws and brothers from Miami, and Shub will be here Tuesday, wednesday, thursday next week. He got two 50-inchers here with me last year and the very first time I met these folks was during a really hot prime July season at Chaudière when it was on fire and they were out with me every night for a week and I think the biggest we got was a 53. We had four over 50, uh, a handful of those 48 to 49 inchers. We were getting two, two or three big rips every night for a week straight and I didn't realize this.
Speaker 1:But and this happens all the time many of the many of the boys in the boat were iphone videoing the fights, yeah, and so they'd be standing up in the on the deck of the boat while I've got my. It's in the dark, by the way, that's key. Yeah, this is that 10 30 at night. Yeah, and you know the guy you're reeling the fish in and the clicker is still on. We're trolling, whatever, I don't need to turn it off, keep it on, whatever. And uh, we had caught a couple of really big fish and, uh, it was quiet that night. We were up, up, up in and around the, uh, the, the, the lower end of the river, and, um, it's quiet and we're trolling along, and, and we had just caught one an hour or two before, and one of the guys up in the front of the boat was replaying one of the videos on his phone and the first thing that you hear when you turn the video on is the guy reeling the fish in.
Speaker 1:So you want to talk about seeing a fat guy? Move fast, man. This guy throws the video on. It's dead quiet and Shub, to this day gets like hyperventilation, laughter turning purple every time we bring that up. And just just just the environment that it was in. It was black as the ace of spades, dead quiet and calm. And we're sitting there, no one's saying anything. We're just waiting to hear that rip. We've been hearing it all week. And one comes through a recorded video on an iphone that a guy's watching up in the bow and I just freak the hell out, you're out of the driver's seat.
Speaker 1:I jumped up. Where is this rod? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And uh, everyone thought that was hilarious, that that, uh, that, that that was a funny memory. But I have to tell you, every day is a memory, man, and that sounds cliche and played out, but that's, that is the God's honest truth. Every single day I'm out there, something happens, and that's a good point. You bring up is I've seen it a million times, you've seen it a million times, matt O'Brien seen it a million times, pat seen it a million times. But what you're doing is you're experiencing it for the first time through their eyes. Yeah, so everything is special, every time is special. And uh, yeah, I have a. I have a.
Speaker 1:There's a gal in town here that I know who, uh, bought a bookstore about five years ago and, um, she's, I take her and her, her and her little daughters and her husband out pretty routinely throughout the summer and fall and she's been after me for years. She's like you need to write a book about all of these uh, uh, experiences and funny moments and characters. And I could, I could fill a book just with some of the characters, and I had a guy show up this spring and a pair of chest waders to go trout fishing. And I'm like dude, I know it's going to rain today, but how much rain do you think we're getting? Like chest waders, like it never ends, it never ends, it never ends. They're all quite memorable, steve. That's the gods on truth. We'll hang up here today and I'll think of 25 of them from the last month alone.
Speaker 3:Yeah, do you ever write that one with the troll?
Speaker 1:that one with the trolling rip. It's all here, buddy, yeah here, I don't you come with me.
Speaker 1:You, I gotta do 10, I can, I can. I can tell you the colors and the baits and the lead lengths that all of those fish were caught on on Shub's trip eight years ago. It's all up here. You remember all of it. I've never been a logger. I remember it intimately. And a guy will come to me and say, you know, I want to put that black topwater back on and I was like no, you caught that fish on silver and white, really, really. Oh yeah, I remember.
Speaker 3:That's great to have a memory like that. Like I mean, I um, unfortunately I don't. I wish I had wrote down all of the uh, um, all of the experiences that I had at the lodge. It's funny when I talk to former guides and and guests of the lodge and and lodge and through conversation I remember things right. I remember, oh, I remember a time when you know but to recall things like that it's another thing. But I do recall you know when, when you were, when you started um at Chaudière, um, being a great guide was was key. Being an amazing fisherman was also key, but as guides and as as um, uh, being part of the lodge community over at Chaudière, there was a lot more that we did and I'll never I remembered.
Speaker 3:The thing that cemented my love for you was our first jam night. And you come in and you play guitar and you started singing a Merle Haggard song and I'm like, oh my God, this guy knows Merle Haggard and some of those jam nights and singing the old country and you breathing some new life, like I had maybe 10 or 12 songs that I knew really well and I would play those 10 or 12 songs and hope that everybody was drunk enough when I finished the last one that when I started, when I started the playlist over again, they wouldn't notice. But you breathe. You brought new life.
Speaker 1:You mark my words. I'll bet you my children's lives on this. There are songs I'll name a bunch in a minute where it'll pop on the radio and I don't give a damn who I'm in the truck with or who I'm in Boston Pizza with. I'll be up Stevie Nidd's wiki set list, jamie Johnson In Color, margaritaville, amarillo, by Morning. The Gambler. Go down the list. Those songs and dozens more. Those songs are forever. Those aren't George Strait songs. Those aren't Gordon Lightfoot songs, the Wreck of the, edmund Fitzgerald. Those are Steve Niswicki's Shodier Lodge songs.
Speaker 1:And my children, my youngest, finn, is, is 11 and he asked for a guitar for Christmas. And there's certain songs that that come up that he's picking away on and he's getting good. And I tell him Steven is wiki signature set list right there, buddy, you got to learn that one and that you're absolutely right. It goes so far. It goes so far beyond uh, dropping a lure into a walleye's mouth, the thing that I would. I get asked reasonably frequently, three or four times a year at least, by guys wanting to break in, and I tell them two things. Number one is you better, love it. Three things Number one is you better, love it. Number two is take care of your hands, because they take an absolute shit beating as a guide. And number three is everybody knows where the fish are. It's understand something.
Speaker 1:If you're a waiter or a waitress, you're with the clients for a maximum of half an hour. If you're a fitness personal trainer or a golf swing instructor, you're with them for an hour. If you're a fitness personal trainer, you're with that, or a golf swing instructor, you're with them for an hour booking. If you are a yoga instructor or a tennis coach or a real estate agent or a dietitian, you are with these people. We're with these people for eight plus hours straight. They and in the case of lodge guests know I might be spending 40 hours with these people.
Speaker 1:And the thing that people have to understand is the fish. The fishing's a big part of it, but you got to keep the wheels on the bus turning. You don't want to have people feel like they're ever not in good hands. You've got to make sure that you every lots of people have different needs and expectations. You have to be courteous and punctual. You have to be help, helpful and be willing to help out and go the extra mile and do the little things, and that all gets appreciated, and that's the big one. Man is understand something. You are spending a large chunk of consecutive uninterrupted time with these people and you have to make it enjoyable.
Speaker 1:There's going to be places you stop where you only catch one or you catch zero or you only get three, and you got to be able to keep the wheels on that bus turning forward. And the personality aspect of it in, in my opinion, is every bit is. It goes the other way too. If you're a great guy but you suck at fishing, you're going to struggle. But if you've got a reasonable foundation of what's going on fishing wise and you can keep these people engaged and entertained and safe and attended to, I'll tell you what man that goes a hell of. That's never been lost on me. That's a huge part of what I do.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. It's part of the experience, huge part. You know you're building an experience with these people, absolutely.
Speaker 1:They're not going to remember. Oh, jp switched us up to pink and white 3-8 sounds at 2 o'clock when the wind kicked up. Or JP put on a black spinnerbait and we went into Reynolds Bay or whatever. They're going to remember that. They're going to remember that the bugs were terrible out in the main river, so we went out where we could get some wind and get cooled off and there were no bugs and we wanted to stop and have a swim and let their. Let our dog run around on shore, and that's what people remember a hundred percent.
Speaker 1:And they remember a good Merle Haggard song. They remember a guy who can pick the guitar. My singing sounds like somebody hitting a baby with a cat, but I can pick a little.
Speaker 3:I don't remember that Like. I mean, I remember it was good. I think you're underselling that.
Speaker 1:I appreciate that it's very limited. You don't ask Gretzky to play goal. You got to know your lane right.
Speaker 3:You got to know your lane.
Speaker 1:I'm more of a backup singer.
Speaker 3:Every good artist has that knowledge of where the range is.
Speaker 1:I've only got a certain range as well. You're Simon. I'm Garfunkel buddy.
Speaker 3:Exactly exactly. That's the shit right there. That's right. No, those were great days back at Chaudière, but so listen.
Speaker 1:No, I still those Jan, that, those, those jam, do you remember? Um, I won't. I won't lead us too far off track here, but do you?
Speaker 1:remember the big uh, I've been trying to think. The big group, uh, toronto, they took the whole Island September every year. The big group, the old fellow, um, he was a financial guy. Uh, kennedy group, no, not Kennedy's. It was the same concept, though. No, no, not the Kennedy's. These folks were from Toronto. Um, I can't believe it. It doesn't matter, but there were. They were so into jam night that we, we were out till 2 AM for seven days. They wanted it every night.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:I can't believe, I can't think of the name of the group. It'll come to me. I'm sure Me neither. And you know, as you said, the total experience and I talk to people about those elements of it all the time. All the time I remember that group because Jam Night Wednesday, or we used to rock Wednesdays pretty hard it was.
Speaker 1:Jam Night every night and we had to open up the set list and keep and we needed fresh material because we were playing from nine o'clock at night till two in the morning for a week straight and they loved it and we were only too happy to to to, you know, and it was always cool. A lot of the, a lot of the people in these groups sing and play too, and we would get everybody going and it was just, it was just fantastic. It was fantastic.
Speaker 3:I had those guitars hanging on the wall there. You know, I had my guitar, I had some upstairs. I always had enough to go around.
Speaker 5:Yep.
Speaker 3:And the more people you get involved, the better, the better it is. You know, and, and those were uh, those were that. That, that was uh. I always used to joke with people. I used to, I used to tell people that I bought a fishing lodge so I could, uh, I could, uh, I could get an audience. You know and uh, and you're on an Island, so you got, yeah, I remember that. Oh yeah, yeah, no, for sure that's right.
Speaker 3:Listen, I've got a question. You've been guiding now for a long time. What are some of the changes that you've seen over the years, whether that be people, whether it's fishing trends? What are some of the things that have been, have changed or are changing?
Speaker 1:I think that, let's be honest, you and I are. We don't sell aluminum soffit or snow tires or deodorant. We sell fun. Yeah, we sell discretionary. If you, if you need to, if you, if you have a, if you have a sore shoulder and you got to go to physio, that ain't a choice. Your fit, your physiotherapist has customers that don't have a choice under. Understand that we're in the business of selling discretionary candy, fun and financially we we are. We are somewhat recession-proof, but there's always people who have money to spend on fun.
Speaker 1:One of the things I've seen, particularly since COVID, is people book a lot less far out, whereas I would have people book their trips for the summer, in february or november, I have a lot more. It's noticeable. I have a lot more people that call me on tuesday and want to come friday, or call me on sunday night and want to come monday morning, type of thing. It seems like there's a lot more short term um trend wise. I I have no interest in getting into this, but since you asked, um, a lot of people not a lot, but a handful of the younger crowd get on my boat and the first thing they ask me is where's the live scope? And uh, as you say, that's a separate podcast, but a lot of people are are are sucked into this whirlwind of if you don't have it, you got no shot and it takes them about 45 seconds to figure out that my 1990s, my, my stuff looks fancy, it's, it's 2d, sonar side imaging and my waypoints and that's it. Yeah, and my trolling motor and my outboard and my kicker. A lot of people, people have that expectation. I think a lot of people now just assume that having forward facing sonar is like having line on your reel or having a hook on your crankbait. It's not a, it's not something people think is optional. A lot of people ask me about that.
Speaker 1:One of the one of the trends I'm seeing more and more as well are multi-generations. I have a lot of trips, ones coming up next week where it's the grandfather and the grandkids. I seem to see a lot more, and it's a great thing. I seem to see a lot more of the generational gap being bridged with these guide trips. You know I've got people that they've got a 10 year old grandson or a 13 year old grandson. I see a lot of that this year. Um, where they're um, uh, the, the, the grandparents are, are getting involved, not only just booking and paying, but they're coming with them and it's typically in years past been a little bit, a little bit more of the father, son, or the parents, kids. It it seems to me, like the, the, the older generation, maybe maybe a little more cognizant that kids these days need a little bit more of what we do, and I, I see, I see grandparents and older folks getting a lot more of their hands on this, on this gig, and taking the lead on it. Um, that's great.
Speaker 1:You know what people, people let's. Let's be honest. I mean, the world is a tumultuous place these days. Um, uh, people are. People are struggling financially. There's a lot of financial and political uncertainty and strife and controversy around the world and I firmly believe that, uh, what impact that may have on what's in people's wallets. More than gets made up for for the fact that they're starting to appreciate and value eight hours out in the waves going to really spring up and people are seeing the value of it for their kids.
Speaker 3:I agree, I agree wholeheartedly. I mean it's almost therapeutic for people to get out into nature and and and give these experiences to the kids who are like you say, let's face it, their experiences right now, the majority of them are happening virtually you know what I mean Like there's no, no, there's no. Kids like when we were, when we were kids, jumping on a bike with a fishing rod and and going down to the, the local creek, or playing in a ditch, looking for crayfish, or, you know, being outside. It's just, you know, and I even see it with my kids, although they're a little older, but you know I have this place and when we come here, basically they all know that phones, phone, the phones don't work very well, number one. But you know, we play cards, we play games, and it's that.
Speaker 3:And being out in nature. It is so important for kids these days to have those experiences, even if they're not getting it like we used to. Like I mean, we used to have to get on our bike and drive downtown or, in my case, drive to town on my bicycle if I wanted to go buy a bag of chips at Becker's. You know what I mean Becker's, yeah, yeah, back in the day Right. So, and I I remember old Becker's.
Speaker 1:The one in my hometown had a wooden floor.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was, it was they wanted my hometown had a wooden floor.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah yeah, it was my home, glen Kleinberg, ontario.
Speaker 3:Nice yeah.
Speaker 7:It had a wooden floor.
Speaker 3:Nothing like walking into a convenience store with a wooden floor.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 5:Yeah, and that wasn't so long ago, steve.
Speaker 1:I mean I turned 49 last week. That wasn't so long ago, steve, I mean I turned 49 last week that wasn't so long ago.
Speaker 3:Well, happy birthday the?
Speaker 1:um the parents. I appreciate that, buddy, thank you. Um the the parents, I think, see it a lot and um, it's hard to reverse uh a whole trend in society with young people with an eight hour or a three day or two day fishing trip, but um, I think what kids learn a lot when they come out is uh paying attention yeah following instructions, being patient and seeing, seeing it work.
Speaker 1:And that's that little, that little chain of command, that little daisy chain of taking something, learning it, modifying it if you need to, applying it. That's a very powerful thing for kids Because, unless you want to sit on my lap and I hold the rod between your knees, like when my boys were babies, you kind of have to do it yourself and I'm going to provide the coaching and guidance. And I think that's a powerful thing for kids is hey, man, I can do this, I did do this, I did do this, I got a 12 pounder. I want to go get another one. You know, it's a powerful thing for kids the outdoors because they get to see a whole new, a whole new thing that's new to them and they wind up mastering it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and mastering something and having success at something is is a powerful thing for a young mind. It's a confidence thing is I can do it. He showed me how to do it. He told me this was going to happen and I made it happen. Yeah, fire right now, and it's going to stay that way until Thanksgiving is topwater.
Speaker 1:You know the kid in the front of the boat invariably gets a surface bait to lead the boat with, gets invariably gets a surface bait to lead the boat with. And I tell you what 25 fish aren't going to have to flush that thing before that kid's an addict.
Speaker 1:The first fish that comes up and slurps that chopper or that walk the dog or that bloop, bloop, stop top water. Listen, guess, guess who's when we, when we, when I take it off plane at the next show, guess who's running up to the front of the boat for that black top water.
Speaker 1:You know it becomes, it becomes, it becomes ingrained. It becomes ingrained into them and they realize the connection that they have with what they're doing. And I have to do it. This isn't where I can hit a button and reset or call one of my buddies over to you know, know, fix it. It's like JP put me in the front of this boat and if I keep casting where he says and don't take my eyes off that lure top water is an addictive, magical thing and I feature it in my boat a lot with kids. And it catches big ones.
Speaker 1:Top waters are really, really, really overlooked. And it catches big ones. Topwaters are really, really, really overlooked. Smallmouth pike, muskies, small some of the biggest fish I've ever put my hands on have been taken on surface baits and there's nothing like it, and a lot of them have been caught by kids.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's awesome, the best. Wow, kids, anybody. There's nothing like topwater. It's my favorite way to fish by far. If, if, if a top water bite is on I, that is what I want to do, regardless of species. Yep, you know me too.
Speaker 1:It's so interactive you see the bite and it catches everything yeah yep yeah, 100 and as a guide, as a, as a, as a fishing guide, it's your number one best friend and here's why it's the farthest casting lure in the box. There's nothing that's going to outcast uh, a zara spook or a choppo or a top raider or a pacemaker. They can bomb it out there, real easy. Number two it's never going to get hung up, it rides along the surface, yep. Number three is I can, want, I can. I can monitor their speed and action and sound from the console. If the guy's running a spinnerbait and it's tangled, I can't tell. If he's got a ball of weeds the size of a rugby ball on his rattle bait, I can't tell.
Speaker 1:I can absolutely work with that person from the console and dial in their speed and their technique and I can tell them hear that sound, see that wake. Now it's perfect as a guide, a surface bait as a, especially as a bird dog in the front of the boat, like if they're, if they're going to pass on that top water, I've got a swim bait coming in behind or a stop and go jerk bait or whatever. But that's the guide's best friend is a surface bait. And as soon as that water temp and as soon as those conditions get to where I like them. I lead my boat with that one hell of a lot of the time, certainly all summer and well into October too.
Speaker 3:So what are those temperatures you're looking for? What are the temperatures or signs? When do you say okay, now's the time.
Speaker 1:I was just telling there is yeah, there's yep, there's two. There's two things that I look for. Uh, I was just. I just had this conversation with the one of the gentlemen this morning.
Speaker 1:Um, there are fits and starts during the pike opener in early may when you can get conditions that'll pop up where a very slow walk, the dog style bait can get bit. But by and large and this is what this is the rule that I go by I'm not saying it's right, it's just what I experience as soon as I get to a point in the season and it's right around now where every single time I get to the dock and fire up my fish finders when that temperature starts with a 7 every morning instead of a 6, when I've got 70.2 or 71.4 or 70, blah, blah, blah, as soon as I'm out of those 60s for good. That is key number one. And where it really starts to shine and take off for me is when I start visiting some of these cabbage patches and weed complexes, when I start seeing those pokers, those buds breaking the surface and coming out the water. As soon as I see cabbage visually above the surface, game on.
Speaker 1:Those are the two cues I look for One's a temperature thing and closely related to that is a weed quality thing, and when you start to see those little, we call them toppers or pokers as soon as you see that little cabbage. But it looks like the tip of an asparagus. It's exactly what it looks like.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:A miniature version Soon, as I start seeing that on some of these grass, grass beds that I fish, never, never, never mind being a viable option, it's I lead the boat with it. The front, the front hole, the number one hole is getting the top water.
Speaker 3:The the one man's getting the top water a lot of the time yeah, yeah, that's, that's that's generally what I what I look for and grass beds and and I'm assuming that you also use- we apply that on on deep pumps too we, yeah, we.
Speaker 1:We find a number of fish that'll come out of really deep water for them, surprisingly deep. We get a lot of giant, 40 inch plus class pike every year that are eating top waters as they're working their way back to the boat over 45 plus feet of water. Um, they have a the theory. The theory that I have is that, um, it's a caloric thing. It's a calorie thing If you're 70 degree water at the end of June and you're a muskie or a pike, you've done your spawn, you're banged up, you're in a bad mood.
Speaker 1:Number one thing for you is putting the pounds back on getting a full belly, getting back in shape, feeling good, and you've got two options. Number one is you can chase around 85 perch or shiners or small gobies or whatever. Or and this is another third thing that makes topwater timing important you can go up and grab a duckling or a baby merganser or a small gosling and you're full for two weeks. Yeah, and I would add that I should have rewinded that. I'll add that as a third, as a third issue, and a third thing I look for with top water and they're all connected, they're not separate 70 degree water, cabbage toppers and guess what that's when the ducklings hatch too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and when you're looking at a fish, understand something too. There's a really good musky author and fisherman, dick Pearson, an old school guy. And Dick Pearson has a really, really, really big reputation on focusing on edges, and the ultimate edge, if you're a fish, is the surface. Think about it. You see, during the course of your life, everything lives at eye level. You've seen a million suckers. You've seen a at eye level. You've seen a million suckers. You've seen a million crayfish. You've seen a million leeches. You swim around your home range every day. You see a little schools of bass and panfish and perch. It's all down at your level. But all of a sudden there's something overhead that is looking like it's trying to swim and doing a shit job of it. It's flailing away and kicking water and splat around. That's an opportunity that fish don't see 3 000 times a day, and the response that you get to a top water bait a lot of the time is you're dead. It's.
Speaker 7:It's a new opportunity it's like the bully on the block.
Speaker 1:That's, that's, that's, that's like the bully on the block, that's the new kid on the block. It's opportunistic, right. That thing's not going anywhere. It's flopping around on the surface, it's making all kinds of commotion and where's it going to go? It's on top. It's not going to swim away. It's not going to dart under a rock. It's not going to swim into the cabbage. It's not going to dart under a rock. It's not going to swim into the cabbage. It's right there and very often they track it. They'll follow it right to the boat and hit it, or they'll push awaken behind it. They know it's not going anywhere and it's you're getting I guess what I'm saying is, with topwater, you're getting a very, very visceral, nasty, classic predator type of response. I am killing you, and I know that you've got a lot of big calories, because you're something that I don't see every day. You're moving slow and you're getting it. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And there's nothing like seeing that.
Speaker 3:And big fish eat big fish eat man so good.
Speaker 3:I remember over at Casablanca, the former owner, brian Parker, and that's the lodge that's just over towards Doquese.
Speaker 3:I was over there and he told me a story about the biggest muskie he had ever seen and it was while he was having his morning coffee. And he said this muskie come out of the water. He said, and it was quite a distance from where he was having his coffee, he knew to the exact spot where he saw this event. And what happened was a muskie and he said he saw its head, with its jaws wide open, chasing a loon, a full-grown loon, and loons need a little bit of space to get off the water, like they don't just jump out of the water. And Brian said this muskie chased this loon and nearly got it. He said it didn't get the loon, it was full grown. But he said the wake and the splashing and physically seeing this muskie's head out of the water as it was swimming, chasing this loon, and the loon was just making noise like it was going to die. But I'll never forget that story because for a fish to chase a full-sized loon, that's a big fish.
Speaker 1:I'll give you a quick one on that same note too is where I keep my boat on the dock. Here we're in a really nice sheltered, sandy, cabbage-filled bay and it's a haven for puddle ducks, fish ducks, herons, and we had a group of baby geese born here five or six years ago that we called them the Lucky 13. There was mom and dad and there was 13 little fuzz balls swimming around everywhere they would go. Just outside our base there's a really good big fish reef and I happened to be in there with a guest right exactly the same time of year July 4th, late June and he caught a really nice fish, a 40 or 41 incher.
Speaker 1:And, as a lot of muskie fishermen and pike fishermen do, this will sound gross to people that aren't accustomed to it, but any time a fish, we call it the mustard. Anytime a fish poops all over your bump board or all over your carpet, you take a look at it right. If they're eating perch, that thing's mustard colored. If they're eating suckers and ciscos, it looks like silver toothpaste. This one took a dump all over my boat and it was full of feathers and we got back to the dock and finished our trip and life went on, and the next, the next, the next morning I was down there and the lucky 13 was no longer 500 yards away. I guess they ventured out too far, or that fish came in and it was the unlucky 12. And that fish was caught on a top water bait too, by the way.
Speaker 3:Wow there by the way. Wow, there you go.
Speaker 1:So there you go they'll eat 100 they'll eat them yes, they do.
Speaker 3:Uh, any last thoughts jp take your kids fishing.
Speaker 1:Um, it's, it's. It's got nothing to do with me needing to pad my wallet and book more trips. Lord knows, look at my hair. I haven't had a haircut since January. Um, it's got nothing to do with me saying book, book a trip with JP or any of the other wonderful guides that we have in this part of the world. Uh, get your kids. This sounds cliche and it's, it's, it's as, as a father, and you know this too, steve, get your kids out there.
Speaker 1:It's a lot easier to do than you think. When you're in the hands of, I guess, an expert or someone with a lot of experience, it's going to go a lot smoother and be a lot more productive than you might think. You don't know, you don't have to know anything. In many ways, you being an unmolded lump of clay or a blank canvas, is actually really helpful, because you don't have any preconceived bad habits or things. If you don't know anything, we've got all the equipment. We've got all the gear. We've got all the know-how. All you got to do is show up, involve your family if you can, involve your family if you can. That would be my thought as a father and as a guy who makes their living in this wonderful business. Share it, share it.
Speaker 3:Great thought.
Speaker 1:Respect it, share it and respect it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's a wonderful thought, and I'm so glad that I asked you for it, because-.
Speaker 1:The bottom line is is that there's nowhere on earth where there are fewer fishermen than there was five years ago, and five years from now there's going to be five times more than there is today, and I would, I would, maybe, I would maybe close and add with is the respect it? I would maybe close and add with is the respect it. You can do so much good for this fishery by participating in it responsibly. People ask me every day you must eat fish every day. It's like if they banned keeping fish for the rest of my life, I'd be like, yes, don't have to ever clean. Another one. I'm going to Boston Pizza if I'm hungry. Respect it, respect it, learn. Other one I'm going to boston pizza if I'm hungry, like you know, respect it, respect it, learn.
Speaker 1:There's. There's a number of great resources everywhere where you can learn about the proper nets and keeping the fish wet and upright and comfortable, and how to remove a hook or choose not to remove a hook. There's lots of resources out there for you to, for you to take. Take your own personal stake in it. Make, make that. Make that 46 inch muskie your fish. You are personally responsible from the second you put it in the net for the survival of not only that fish but it's babies, and put as much time, care and passion into handling them nice as you did into driving up there and catching one. It's on us, it's on us.
Speaker 3:That's fantastic yeah.
Speaker 1:The Ontario government or the Canadian government is not going to have the same impact that you and me and all of our fishing friends are going to have. And the second that fish is in the net. It's on you. Take the responsibility, take the pride in it and handle that resource. Pay it back with the gentleness and respect. Pay it back with that.
Speaker 3:Well, that is so well said, jp, thank you for that, and folks, that is such great advice.
Speaker 1:You give me an opening, I'll talk the wheels off a Greyhound bus buddy. Um and and folks, that is that that is such great advice. Uh, you give me an opening, I'll talk the wheels off a Greyhound bus buddy, just let me, just put a quarter in me and wind me up for sure.
Speaker 3:No, it's true, that's why you're perfect for a podcast. Well, listen, buddy. Thank you so much for this opportunity and, um uh, I'm sure it won't be the last one. I was really excited to talk to you and get this kind of book through, matt. Thanks there, Mr O'Brien, you come through again. And those words of wisdom are words that that, yeah, yeah, yeah, he's a lot of people's agent that guy?
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's a solutions provider.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, for sure. Just ask him, and his website too. No, he's great, he is a solution provider. But those words that you said, I want everybody to take those to heart, because our resource is fragile. Even though we've got more lakes and rivers in this country than anywhere else in the world, and our province is one of the it's a landmass that has more fresh water than most places in the world. Um, when, when you don't respect our resource, um, you can, you can definitely do damage to it and um, uh, safe handling of big fish is key and thank you for bringing that up.
Speaker 1:I'm going to say one more thing, and it's in the same line, and then I'll shut my yap. Listen, there's such a thing as loving something to death, and what I want people to understand is all of that passion and research and effort that you put into buying lures and boats and live scopes and braided line and premium treble hooks. I want you to put the same amount of effort and forethought into what you're going to do after you catch one. Handle them right, don't take more than you need, and teach your kids that level of respect too. Man. Teach it to your kids, never mind teaching your kids how to catch them and how to cast. Help them understand that you've got a mummy and so does that fish, and that fish is a mummy to other fish and she's going to be a mummy to other fish next spring and the spring after that. You can love it to death. Man, you got to remember to give back.
Speaker 3:Excellent and, on that note, thank you folks for listening to this point. I really appreciate it. Like, subscribe, leave comments, do all those wonderful things. You know how to get a hold of me at steven, at fishincanadacom and JP. You can get JP at Bushy Angle Guided Fishing. Google it at Bushy Angle Guided Fishing. Google it and have yourself a wonderful experience with him. Bring your kids, go on your own, take your wife. If you have not experienced Georgian Bay with a totally awesome professional guide like JP, it is something that should be on your bucket list, especially for all you folks in the GTA. It's not far Like. I mean, you're less than two hours to get to JP and he'll look after you. He'll look after you. So thanks again, folks, for listening and head on over to fishingcanadacom and get in on those giveaways. Just put them, ballots, in those boxes One all as many as you can get, because there is some really cool stuff that you can win. And also, like I say, like, subscribe.
Speaker 3:Thank you to Anthony Mancini, our producer. He is a magician when it comes to all of this stuff, bringing you a high-quality product that makes me sound wonderful. You know I like that. That's why I love Anthony. He always makes me sound good. And thanks again to Lakeside Marine. They are a fantastic business and if you need any kind of equipment up in the north, give Lakeside Marine a call. Andrew will set you up. And hey, nixon, I haven't wished you good night lately, buddy, but good night, nixon.
Speaker 2:Sleep well, brother Thus brings us to the conclusion of another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner Stories of the North. I'm a good old boy, never meanin' no harm. I'll be the all you ever saw been railin' in the hog since the day I was born, bendin' my rock stretchin' my line. Someday I might own a lodge, and that'd be fine. Someday I might own a lodge, and that'd be fine. I'll be making my way the only way I know how, working hard and sharing the north with all of my pals. Well, I'm a good old boy. I bought a lodge and lived my dream, and now I'm here talking about how life can be as good as it seems.
Speaker 5:Yeah, Hi everybody. I'm Angelo Viola and I'm Pete Bowman. Now you might know us as the hosts of Canada's Favorite Fishing Show, but now we're hosting a podcast. That's right. Every Thursday, ange and I will be right here in your ears bringing you a brand new episode of Outdoor Journal Radio. Now, what are we going to talk about for two hours every week? Well, you know, there's going to be a lot of fishing.
Speaker 1:I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.
Speaker 5:Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show. We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors, from athletes, All the other guys would go golfing Me and Garton Turk and all the Russians would go fishing. To scientists.
Speaker 2:But now that we're reforesting and letting things breathe.
Speaker 6:it's the perfect transmission environment for life To chefs, if any game isn't cooked properly, marinated, you will taste it.
Speaker 5:And whoever else will pick up the phone Wherever you are. Outdoor Journal Radio seeks to answer the questions and tell the stories of all those who enjoy being outside. Find us on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 7:As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons of our natural world become harder and harder to hear, but they are still available to those who know where to listen. I'm Jerry Ouellette and I was honoured to serve as Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources. However, my journey into the woods didn't come from politics. Rather, it came from my time in the bush and a mushroom. In 2015, I was introduced to the birch-hungry fungus known as chaga, a tree conch with centuries of medicinal use by Indigenous peoples all over the globe.
Speaker 7:After nearly a decade of harvest use, testimonials and research, my skepticism has faded to obsession and I now spend my life dedicated to improving the lives of others through natural means. But that's not what the show is about. My pursuit of the strange mushroom and my passion for the outdoors has brought me to the places and around the people that are shaped by our natural world. On Outdoor Journal Radio's Under the Canopy podcast, I'm going to take you along with me to see the places and meet the people. That will help you find your outdoor passion and help you live a life close to nature and under the canopy. Find Under the Canopy now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever else you get your podcasts.